By Amy Batista Special Writer
EAST WINDSOR — A new Indian marketplace that offers fresh produce, groceries, spices, specialty items and more just opened in the township.
Patel Brothers Grocery Chain opened its 50th store in East Windsor last week. The market occupies 22,000 square feet in the former Genuardi’s location in the East Windsor Village on Princeton Hightstown Road (Route 571).
The grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony was held at 9 a.m. on May 28. Mayor Janice Mironov; Councilmen Perry Shapiro, Peter Yeager, Alan Rosenberg and John Zoller; Patel Brothers Grocery Chain founders Mahendra Patel, Mafat Patel and Tulsi Patel; East Windsor Patel Brothers Grocery co-owners Deep Patel, Kaushik Patel and Vishnu Patel; and other members of the Patel family along with local residents attended the event.
“It’s wonderful to welcome all of you on this really special day for East Windsor and for the Patel Brothers as we celebrate the opening of the Patel Brothers 50th store,” Mayor Janice Mironov said. “It’s really quite an exciting achievement.”
She said the township is happy to welcome a successfully established grocery chain store into one of its main shopping centers and wishes the market tremendous success and all the best in East Windsor.
“We are really excited to open this store with the help of your office,” Rohit Shah, contractor of P&K Contracting Inc., said. “The turnout was greater than we expected with a diverse crowd coming into the store.”
The new market opened up earlier than expected.
“We were supposed to open up in July but with everybody’s help (from the township) it’s May 28 and we are here,” Mr. Shah said.
Deep Patel, co-owner of the store, said he is happy to be in East Windsor.
“The township should also be excited that the best Indian supermarket in the country is now in East Windsor,” said Mr. Patel. “We look forward to being here a long time and continuing our relationship with East Windsor Township.”
Mayor Mironov said the grocery store would create approximately 20 full-time jobs and many other part-time jobs.
“The decision of Patel Brothers grocery store to expand their company in East Windsor is another signal of the strong attraction of East Windsor and the Route 130 corridor area as a terrific location for new stores and restaurants,” she said.
Patel Brothers, a U.S.-based grocery retail chain, focuses on flavors and foods found in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East and offers a full line of groceries including dry goods, frozen items and fresh produce. The first store opened in 1974 in Chicago, Illinois. The national chain now has 50 locations in the United States and three locations in Canada. New Jersey locations include North Brunswick, South Amboy and Parsippany.
“We carry the entire range of products,” Mr. Shah said. “You can get baby spinach, kale, arugula salad mixes, eggs, yogurt, etc. like you can at your local American supermarkets plus you get the Indian vegetables — guvar, karela, etc.”
Produce comes in on demand, he said.
“Should we run out, a pick-up for produce is arranged so that the customers are not left without produce,” he said. “At a minimum, we bring it in a couple of times a week but often do it more. We pride ourselves on our produce departments and therefore are very aggressive in ensuring that the freshest products are on the shelves, even if it means bringing it in on a daily basis.”
The market also carries desi butter, mango drinks, lassi and more items that can not be found in a local supermarket.
“What sets us apart from the other Indian grocery stores is that with our space, we can offer a larger variety and we can provide the customer a clean and more roomy shopping experience,” Mr. Shah said. “We have moved away from the narrow aisles and cramped spaces to spacious produce areas and wide aisles to enhance the customer experience while still maintaining, even expanding, the amount of variety on our shelves.”
The grocery store also offers Indian spices, snacks, teas, sauces, and ketchups from brands like Swad as well as the American or western counterparts in such as Heinz.
Mayor Mironov said it is “good that they have a mix of brands.”
“It will attract different clientele,” she said.
Mr. Patel noted that vegetarian products are isolated.
“We also have started introducing fresh pickle bars where customers can take home different delicious pickles in quantities of their choosing,” Mr. Shah said.
Mr. Shah encouraged people to visit the grocery store and to ask questions.
“We understand that sometimes it can be an overwhelming experience to shop in a new place, and with the unique products on our shelves, shoppers might want to set aside quite a bit of time before they come visit so they can browse,” he said.
The market provides sampling on the weekends so customers can try some of the products before they buy them.
For more information and recipes, visit www.patelbros.com.
